For the first time, the public is being allowed to observe contract negotiations between the Portland Police Association and the city government.
I went to watch the first day of talks, and wrote a brief report of what I saw.
Recent Writing About Wilde (Sept. 2010)
The Oscholars recently ran a special issue focusing on Oscar Wilde’s essay “The Soul of Man Under Socialism.” In it, I have an article examining two lines of influence on Wilde: Henrik Ibsen and George Bernard Shaw, on the one hand; Williams Morris and Walter Crane, on the other.
I have also written a short review of Oscar Wilde in America: The Interviews. It’s in the August 2010 issue of OutSmart.
More of my work on Wilde should reach print in the next couple months, including an essay on his aphorisms.
Anti-War Cartoons and Superhero Comics (July 2010)
Anti-War
I’ve recently reviewed three comics the subject of war. The three are very different from each other in terms of approach, and they contain very different anti-war messages.
The first, “Timeless Cartoons” reviews Craig Yoe’s collection The Great Anti-War Cartoons. The book includes images from the sixteenth century on. The review ran in The Progressive Populist, June 15, 2010.
The second, “It was the War of the Trenches,” reviews Jacques Tardi’s novel-like treatment of a few minor events from World War I. It’s on The Comics Journal site.
And the third looks at reporter David Axe’s memoir, War is Boring. It, too, is on The Comics Journal website.
Superheroes
Also at The Comics Journal, I reviewed four recent superhero comics, all issue #1’s from Marvel: Avengers, Secret Avengers, Astonishing X-Men, and Dazzler.
Would you believe Dazzler is the best of the bunch?
There’s a reason I titled the series “False Starts.”
Cops, Guns, and Racism (July 2010)
Speaking in Portland (July 25, 2010)
I’ll be speaking at the Anti-Racist Action conference in Portland, on July 25 at 4pm (PSU Smith Center, room 236). I will discuss the history of the Portland Police Bureau, focusing on its role in maintaining racial inequality. I will outline both the historical linkages between the Portland Police and avowedly racist organizations like the Klan, and will also describe the racism inherent in policing a stratified society.
Interviews
The first of a two-part interview, “Police Violence and Class Conflict: An Interview with Kristian Williams,” is in the Summer 2010 issue of The Portland Alliance. It originally ran on KBOO back in December. But the Alliance version also includes a graphic I created, titled “Fire the Cops.”
Submedia also just ran another segment of their interview with me, relating my statements about police violence to the recent events surrounding the G20.
Re-Prints
Since the Supreme Court just tossed out Chicago’s handgun ban, Bring the Ruckus decided to re-run an article Peter Little and I wrote concerning the racial history of gun control. The essay originally appeared in In These Times back in 2008, but the Ruckus version, titled “Gun Rights Are Civil Rights,” is quite a bit longer.
Reading Group
North Star Infoshop (833 SE Main St. #108 in Portland) will be hosting a reading group of Our Enemies in Blue, starting July 21. August 11 at 7pm.
Update:
Part two of the Alliance interview is out now as well: “Police Violence and Class Conflict, Part Two: An Interview with Kristian Williams.” Bill Resnick. The Portland Alliance. July 2010. It also started out as a radio interview on KBOO back in January.